Challenge Spotlight – Color Challenge

Hello and another happy Tuesday to all the lovely blog readers! 🙂 Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. I was SWAMPED all weekend long so I am exhausted and ready to just sit and scrap!

So, need a little push to scrap? An incentive? How about a discount coupon or gift certificate to the GingerScraps store?! Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good incentive to get to scrapping! This week I am spotlighting the color challenge hosted by JoyLynn of Blue Heart Scraps!

She has picked this bright and cheery palette for us to work with this month:

So pretty, I love it for spring and summer! To sweeten the pot, the ever-generous JoyLynn has even given you a paper pack freebie to get you started on the challenge; thanks, JoyLynn! 🙂

These colors are just great and the paper pack is such a sweet gesture to give everyone a start. She’s also suggested some kits in the store that coordinate! Need to see the colors in action? Here’s some inspiration to get you going!

by photom

by amyjo76

by skcosti

Ahh, they’re all so pretty and colorful! Can you tell I like bright colors? Hehe. Even more, I like bragging on my fellow GS forum gals, these are fantastic, gals; you’re all so talented! 🙂

So you’ve got some pretty colors to play with and an awesome freebie to boot! If you participate in the challenge, leave a comment in the May color challenge thread with a link to your layout in the gallery so we can leave you some love! Make sure to track your points and remember, if you have any questions about this or any of our other challenges, or how the points work, head on over to the Cookie Jar and someone will help you ASAP!

Take care and I’ll see you all next week with the next challenge spotlight! 🙂

LOTW Winner!!

Congratulations to Fran98765 for winning LOTW! What an amazing cluster of fishing elements. I love how the two circle pictures are displayed at the bottom to compliment the large photo.  Click the image to leave her some love or click here to view her entire Gingerscraps Gallery.

This awesome LO was created using Reel Men Fish by Pretty in Green and Pixels by Jen.

You can pick outstanding gallery layouts which become the next LOTW nominee’s by posting in the “Baker’s Best” thread. Check out the rules here.

As always your vote counts so head over the the forum to vote for the next LOTW winner. You can be a LOTW winner too, all you have to do is scrap! Happy Scrapping.

Challenge Spotlight – Template Challenge #1

Have you recovered from NSD yet?? Has your pocketbook? I didn’t go as crazy shopping as some of my fellow scrappers did (you know who you are!), but I did buy a bunch of kits I’ve had my eye on for a while and I’m ready to put them to good use! Here’s a way to get scrapping with all those treasures you picked up over the weekend and add another freebie to your stash: the first May template challenge hosted by Inspired Designs!

This month’s first template is really cool; take a look!

I really love the mix of square and circle photograph shapes with the mini clusters. This template will definitely make for some eye-catching LOs! Need some inspiration from the fabulous scrappers of the forum? Here you go!

By sparkysgirl

By Victoria32

By MommyScrapper

Wonderful pages, ladies! You’ve all made the template your own and these LOs are definitely inspiring my creativity!

You’ve got all month to get this one in to count towards your challenge points, but it’s such a nifty template, I’d grab it now if I were you! (As a matter of fact, I should go finish my LO with this one right now!)

Don’t forget to grab a spot May Challenge Points Tracking thread so you can tally up all your points and start working your way towards a discount coupon or gift certificate! Any questions on this or any of the monthly challenges can  be posted to the Cookie Jar; don’t be shy, someone else might have the same question! 🙂

Alright ladies, I’m off to start going through my NSD spoils and get some challenges done!  Have a wonderful week and I’ll see you all back here next Tuesday!

LOTW Winner Announced!!

Congratulations to preciouspixels for winning LOTW! Her layout is absolutely stunning. The large photo is a beautiful and the clusters of flowers, lace, and ribbon are gorgeous. Click the image to leave her some love or click here to view her entire Gingerscraps Gallery.

This layout was creating using Hope & Faith by Connie Prince

You can pick outstanding gallery layouts which become the next LOTW nominee’s by posting in the “Baker’s Best” thread. Check out the rules here.

As always your vote counts so head over the the forum to vote for the next LOTW winner. You can be a LOTW winner too, all you have to do is scrap! Happy Scrapping.

Challenge Spotlight – Mini Kit Challenge

Good morning and happy May, everyone! Can you believe it’s May already? For those of us experiencing temperatures already in the 90s, it seems more like July: BLECH! Instead of roasting in the “spring” heat, let’s stay indoors, get some scrapping done and earn a discount coupon/gift certificate to the store, shall we? It’s time for the May challenges!

Let’s start the month off right–with a freebie! This month’s mini kit challenge is brought to you by Kathy Winters Designs and trust me when I say you’ll want to rush over to the forum and grab this mini ASAP! Take a look at what she made for us to work with this month:

B-E-A-UTIFUL! I love the colors and that little birdie is just so cute.  What will you make with this? A layout, a hybrid card? This is really fitting for all things spring and of course, perfect for those Mother’s Day pictures!

Here are some awesome layouts already completed by the talented ladies of the Gingerscraps forum!

By chigirl

By victoriansoup

By lawerlyn

Excellent creations, ladies! Those have definitely inspired me to jump on this challenge right away. I love how the same mini kit can take on so many different lives with the hands of a different artist, don’t you? Seriously indicative of the talent we have here at Gingerscraps! 🙂

Ok dear readers, now it’s YOUR turn! Swing by the forum and grab Kathy’s mini kit and get to scrapping! Make sure you grab your spot on the May Challenge Points Tracking thread and start tallying your progress towards a discount or gift certificate! (I’m trying to make May my third month in a row to hit 13–woohoo!) As always, any questions on this or any of the monthly challenges can be directed towards the Cookie Jar.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week, a good start to the month and a HAPPY NSD! (May the odds be ever in your favor!)

It’s that time again to announce our next LOTW winner!!

Congratulations to Jacque for winning LOTW! Her layout is absolutely stunning. Can you imagine how long it took to layer all of those flowers. My guess is a LONG time, but well worth it in the end to have an absolutely gorgeous LO in the end. Click the image to leave her some love or click here to view her entire Gingerscraps Gallery.

You can pick outstanding gallery layouts which become the next LOTW nominee’s by posting in the “Baker’s Best” thread. Check out the rules here.

As always your vote counts so head over the the forum to vote for the next LOTW winner. You can be a LOTW winner too, all you have to do is scrap! Happy Scrapping.

Team Member Spotlight – ME!

For those of you who don’t know who me is, my name is April, known as [mamaape] in forum(s). For the past couple months I have been bringing you your weekly “get-to-know-you” interviews of our designers and team members. This month I thought I’d act out on all my selfish desires and interview myself! It is the month of April after-all.

In order to make this fun and not me just droning on about all the exciting boring tidbits of my life, I asked YOU to ask me anything you wanted to know. Silliness was encouraged, and I absolutely got what I asked for. 😉

 

The first question asked, by Julie (Juliemomof4) was “What is the color of your kitchen?”  Cream and blue, except it’s totally yucky and cheap- we live in an older apartment and though the appliances are newer YAY!, the counter tops are this hideous blue and cheap. It’s a tiny little (currently messy) kitchen “closet” I like to say, but the cabinet space is ridiculously plentiful!

Julie also asked, “If you had a free day all to your self, where would you go and what would you do?”  Oh man, I would of course get a mani/pedi, then I think I would go to the poshest hotel, rent a room on the top floor and just sleep. 🙂

Barbara (nutsaboutgabe) asks “What’s your favorite color and what’s your biggest pet peeve?” My favorite color varies depending on mood, but I have a few always-favorite colors I gravitate towards more than others. The majority of the shirts hanging in my closet are purple, and I’m pretty sure that’s my favorite color 99% of time. I also love greays, greens, and a dash of hot pink.

Biggest pet peeve? Oh man, I have so many it’s hard to pick the biggest! HA! Not picking up after oneself (I’m talking adults here), and maybe people who chew loudly, and not using your vs. you’re properly (or their and there and they’re) Ohemgee, that really gets me… and I better stop there or this is going to totally turn into a rant against humanity’s faults.  Hahaha!

Barbara then asked how I met my husband which has a fun twist to the story. We met at work (where neither one of us still works at). I saw him from across the warehouse and just wondered who he was, he was talking to another older coworker. That was the first I saw him, we didn’t actually introduce ourselves until a good month or two later being on two different shifts. The funny bit is that the older guy he was talking to is a giant goofball (and a little crazy) and what they were talking about was ME! The older guy was joking with my husband saying that he was going to marry me some day (even though neither of them knew who I was). SAY WHAT!

Christina (Ambelleina) asks, “What’s your favorite meal?” My answer is simple: the one I don’t have to clean up after.  She then asked if I was a cat or dog person to which I will reply dog dog dog. That’s not to say I’m not a cat person, because I have a cat (and she’s so awesome, stinky, but awesome), but I’ve grown up been dogs, have always had a dog and will always have a dog.

Alfie, who's full name is Alfred Charles. His birthday is next week, he'll be 5. My furry baby boy.

 

Terra wants to know what my favorite sandwich is, which is a tricky question because I’m not a huge sandwich person. It must have avocado on it though to be my favorite.  There’s this “California Club” or something like that (pretty sure that’s totally not the name of it, but generally sandwiches with “California” in the name have avocado), at Chili’s restaurant that I totally love.

Lisa makes me chose, “Howard, Leonard, Raj or Sheldon?” Without hesitation I say Sheldon.

“If you could be one person in history, who would you be?” (from dodgelade) This is a really good make me think question, which is not something I like to do on a Saturday morning. 😉 There are so many great people in history that I’d much rather meet them than be just one. Pretty sure most of them are writers or singer/songwriters. Some dead, some still alive. J.K. Rowling, Adele, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath, Anne Boleyn and Queen Elizabeth I.. the list could go on and on.

Colleen wants to know “How many states and other countries have you visited?”  I have visited California, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida. I have driven through nearly every state west of the Mississippi, and a few east of the Great Lakes on my way to Toronto – which is my only other country I’ve visited.

Let’s talk some scrap shall we?

I was asked,

What is your one “can’t live without it” element in a kit? Right now I am obsessed with templates. I know it’s not an element, but I can’t not use a template lately. There are just SO many awesome ones out there!

Who is your MOST FAVORITEST designer? This is totally a loaded question 😛 I like designers for different reasons- SOME of my favorite designers are obviously those that I am lucky enough to be a part of their creative teams (Blue Heart Scraps, LauraMarie Scraps, Kathy Winters Designs and Sugar Kissed Designs) but I also love Jen Yurko and Inspired Designs (Crystal).

What kind of elements are your favorite? Which ones do you absolutely detest? I love frames – I don’t always use them, but I feel like I need them. I also NEED wordart, since journaling is not my forte, even though… I’m writing an awful lot right now. 😉

How many hours a day to you spend doing the following: Designing layouts, “surfing” Gingerscraps, Facebook? I’m not exaggerating when I say, all day long.

I wish I could keep answering your questions but I’m already late and I can only hold everyone’s attention for so long! 😉 If you (for some awesome reason) want to see ALL the questions and remaining answers, go here). Thank you EVERYONE for submitting your questions, silly and serious. This was so much fun for me!

I’ll leave you with my favorite recent layout I created as a homage to my three year anniversary (celebrated last week).

Template by Jen Yurko, Kit Kathy Winters Designs

Have a happy Saturday!

 

 

 

Challenge Spotlight – Template Challenges

Good morning, my lovely ladies! It’s Tuesday and you know what that means–another challenge spotlight!

This is your last full week to get your challenges in for a super nifty store discount coupon or gift certificate! And who doesn’t want that? (Seriously, who? Because I’ll volunteer to take yours if you don’t want it!) The points thread closes on the 1st of May, so get your challenges tallied up and entered!

Since this is the last spotlight of the month, I am going to give you a double dose of awesomeness with two easy challenges that each come with a freebie (isn’t free your favorite price?!): Sugar Kissed Designs’ first April template challenge and Craft-tastrophic’s second April template challenge!

You know how these work: we have one template for the first half of April and another for the second half, but you can still get both right now and knock two challenges out!

First, let’s take a look at Terra’s template for the first half of April!

Gorgeous, right? This one is perfect for showcasing multiple photos to tell a story! Let’s see how our fabulous forum gals did on this one!


By mamaape


By Neverland Scraps


By nowens

Wow, ladies–you’ve really outdone yourselves with this challenge! All the layouts are so unique, it’s hard to believe they’re all from the same template!

Now let’s move onto Ivonne’s template for the second half of April!

I love me some paper stacking, so I of course jumped right on this one! Need some inspiration? Thought you’d never ask! 🙂


By Lisa


By Sugar&Spice


By Ambelleina

Excellent work, as always! (Especially that last one, if I do say so myself, hehe!) This template was really versatile and fun to work with, so speed over to the forum and grab it!

Remember, the month is almost up (can you believe it?), so make sure you swing by the forum and nab both of April’s templates while they’re hot! Get all your challenges in and tally them up in the April Challenge Points Tracking thread before May 1st to get credit. As always, direct any questions you have about our challenges to the Cookie Jar!

Hope you all have a great week; see you next month! 🙂

LOTW Winner!!

Congratulations to Saar for winning LOTW! I love how the title is incorporated into the LO and how the “O”  is used as a frame. She has created such a pretty pink LO!! ! Click the image to leave her some love or click here to view her entire Gingerscraps Gallery.

You can pick outstanding gallery layouts which become the next LOTW nominee’s by posting in the “Baker’s Best” thread. Check out the rules here.

As always your vote counts so head over the the forum to vote for the next LOTW winner. You can be a LOTW winner too, all you have to do is scrap! Happy Scrapping.

Team Spotlight: Find Your Bliss Designs

Good morning scrappers!

…and I thought I was dragging my feet last weekend, but I’ve finally got all my morning self-appointed chores finished and ready to rock and roll!

Let’s all say hello to Maaike – owner of Find Your Bliss Designs!

She’s been our absolutely lovely guest designer this month. If you haven’t see her designs and fallen in love with at least one, check your pulse.

A little bit more about Maaike in her own words.

I live in the Netherlands with my husband and our two teen sons! I love to digiscrap, have cropnights with my paperscrapfriends, I love photography, reading and just having fun with the ones I love!

How did you get your start designing?

I was a paperscrapper working in Scrapstores before and teached workshops and when I turned digi, I felt the need to combine those two and felt the need to design and I am really happy I started designing because I couldn’t live without it anymore!

What inspires your designing?

Everything!! Real life, colors I see,Pinterest, people around me, really, everything!

From your (beautiful) kits in our store, what’s your favorite? What inspired it?

I would have to say Always Strong, because it is such a diverse kit! They are totally different colors from what I normally use, but still the kit is very colorful and you can scrap real fun moments with it, but also very serious subjects and I had someone here on the forum thanking me for making this kit because she needed to scrap a serious moment and was inspired because she could use this kit and I was very honored!

An absolutely beautiful kit! I personally love your Stories kit, the color pallet is totally awesome!

I also love all the little talk/thought bubbles!

While you’re designing these lovely kits, what is the one thing you just can’t do without?

Just one??Wow!! Well, I must answer tea than! (and ofcourse everything you can eat with tea, and the tv or radio on in the meanwhile! Was I cheating with putting this between brackets?  )

We’ll allow it. 😉

What’s your advice for aspiring designers?

Think good about what you really want, what your style is and stick to it! And learn your program and how to make good quality products.

Now for some more fun!

If you could time travel to any time, when would you go and why?

I would go back 20 years ago to my parents house to see my dad one more time !

Your most favorite book turned movie?

Right now that would be The Help!

 If you could vote any FICTIONAL character into Presidency for 2012 who would it be?

Harry Potter ofcourse!

I’m with you on that! Wands and messenger owls for everyone!

What’s your favorite recipe to make at home?

A lot of mixed veggies in the wok with oriental oil, cajun urbs and sweet and sour sauce, a can of tuna in there and some basmati rice and along with that some backed seasoned tilapia fish on top! Mmmm (cooked in 10 minutes and my favorite meal)

That sounds positively de-lish!

What’s your favorite subject to scrap?

My youngest son Quincy, he’s 11 now!

Lastly, I’ve got to ask, journaling or wordart, which do you favor?

Word Art! I journal sometimes, but it always comes down to loving him so much and I think he will get that without seeing it on every page! 😉

I was able to chat personally with Maaike, and I’ve already thanked her but I would love to do it again! Thank you Maakie for chatting with me, and sharing with us more about you! You’re totally awesome and we love having you here!

You can check out the rest of her store here and definitely check out her blog!

I hope everyone has a super scrapperific day!